Display and dispensing device



Nov, 11, 1952 HANSON, R 2,617,604

DISPLAY AND DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Sept. 15, 1948 may Patented Nov. 11, 1952 DISPLAY AND DISPENSING DEVICE Carl V. Hanson, Jr., Evanston, 111., assignor to Miles Laboratories, Inc., Elkhart, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application September 16, 1948, Serial No. 49,623

3 Claims.

pense material such as pressure-sensitive adhesive tape. The tape may, for example, be employed for securing the wrapping about articles which are displayed or may be used for other purposes.

It is another object of the invention to provide a display device which retains articles, or packages containing the articles, while yet permitting direct entry or removal of the articles or packages from the retaining structure through an unobstructed front portion. In this way the display device may also serve as a dispenser of the articles which it retains. In its preferred form the retaining structure is rearwardly inclined.

Other objects, uses and advantages of the invention will be obvious or will appear from the following description when taken with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device embodying my invention with a pair of cartons being indicated by dot-dash lines;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the device of Figures 1 and 2; and

Figure 4 is a side elevation on reduced scale of a modified form of the device embodying my invention.

Referring now to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, there will be seen a display and dis- 7 pensing device indicated generally by the reference numeral l which includes a retaining device 3 and a supporting structure 5. The retaining device 3 is adapted to hold a pair of cartons l, for example, which cartons are indicated in dot-dash lines. The cartons may have on their surfaces descriptive material, illustrations, etc, and may contain various articles within them. It will be readily apparent that the retaining device 3 may also hold separate, smaller articles, one on top of the other.

Retaining device 3 is preferably formed of sheet metal and constitutes a pair of rearwardly inclined side walls 9 and a rearwardly inclined rear wall H, which walls are integrally formed and provide three sides for retaining articles which are seated upon the bottom wall supports the device and also is adapted to disl3 and/or upon each other. The side walls 9 and rear wall II are secured to the bottom wall by means of rivets, such as rivet I5, or by welding or other appropriate means. The bottom wall l3 may have small tongues, such as tongues l7 and I9, which are adapted to pass through slots in the top surface of a base member 2|, and then be turned at an angle, as shown. It will be readily seen that the cartons I are held against sidewise displacement by reason of side walls 9, against rearward displacement by the rear wall H and tend to be retained against displacement in a forward direction through the open front portion 23 of retaining device 3 by reason of the fact that the articles resting on the bottom wall I 3 are rearwardly inclined.

The front portion 23 is unobstructed by any wall or by flanges or cross members associated with the side walls 9 and therefore the display device may also readily serve as a dispensing device for the displayed articles or cartons, be-.

cause the articles or packages may be directly entered or removed through the open front portion 23 of the dispensing device 3. At the upper edge of the rear wall an extension is bent back upon itself and then upwardly again, as indicated at 25, to form a retaining groove 26 in which a display card may be positioned and gripped by the spring action of the spread walls of the groove.

To support the rearwardly inclined display device 3 and the articles or packages contained therein against backward movement or separation from the base 2|, I provide a pair of parallel, vertically upstanding walls or plates 21 which extend rearwardly from adjacent the central vertical axis of the rear wall The plates 21 may be formed integrally from a sheet metal stamping and be joined by a central web 28 which is secured to base 2| as by welding or riveting. The same stamping may include an extension or tongue 29 of the web 28, which extension or tongue is bent up and is secured to the rear wall ll of the display device 3 by rivets 3|, or by other suitable fastening means. Alternatively, in place of the tongue 29 secured to web 28, I may form inwardly turned flanges on the walls or plates 2'! and secure said flanges to the rear wall ll. Also, I may connect the plates 21 by a web which replaces tongue 29 and form flanges on the bottom edges of the plates for connection to the base 2|. In all of the foregoing fashions supporting member 5 may be formed from a single piece of sheet metal. Flanges 33 at the free end of the plates 21 are adapted to be secured to and to support an upstanding end wall 37, as by rivets 35 or other fastening means, at the upper end of which wall 31 is secured a cutting member 39 having a cutting blade or edge 4!. End wall 31 could also be formed as an integral extension of the bottom web 28.

In each, plate 21 there is located a slot 43 which extends downwardly from the upper edge of the plate and then angles in a direction toward the rear wall 31 of the supporting structure 5. A spool or drum 45, on which pressure sensitive adhesive tape may be mounted, is carried on an axle 47, said axle being adapted to fit in the slots 43 of the plates 27. readily apparent that the spool 45 and the axle 41 may be withdrawn from the slot 43 when desired. It will also be seen that the axis of the 'axle 41 and the cutting edge 4| of the cutting member 39 lie substantially parallel to one another, the cutting blade 4l being vertically positioned at a level substantially that of the top of the spool '55. The lower ends of the slots 43 are so positioned relative to the bottom web 28 of the supporting structure that the spool 25 will have sufiicient clearance, even when carrying a roll of tape, that the tape will not rub against the web 28.

Referring now to Figure 4, it will be seen that a device such as that illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 may be formed without a common base, such as the base 2| of the device of Figures 1, 2 and 3. Rubber feet 59 may be secured to the base of the retaining device 3 and to the supporting structure 5', so that the bottom portion of the device and the structure will not slide upon a supporting surface or mar said surface.

In its preferred form, the device embodying my invention is formed primarily of sheet metal stampings, but it will be apparent that it may be formed of other materials and by other methods. It will also be understood that for solid walls, framework or the like could be substituted for retaining some types of articles and that a pair of struts could be employed to support the retaining means and the rotatable element. I also prefer to have the retaining device rearwardly inclined, but it will be appreciated that it could also be employed in a substantially Vertical position.

Although I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not intend to be limited thereto except in so far as the appended claims are so limited, since various modiflcations and changes may be made in my invention by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.

I, claim:

1. A device for displaying and dispensing arti- It will bev cles, said device being open at the front and having a rear retaining wall inclined backwardly from the vertical, and side retaining walls and a bottom wall disposed at right angles to the rear wall, and a pair of generally vertical plates disposed behind said rear wall on opposite sides of, and adjacent, the vertical center of said rear wall with their forward ends engaging said rear wall and their top edges being a substantial distance below the top of said rear retaining wall, whereby said plates are concealed from the view of a person in front of the device, said plates being rigidly connected to said rearwardly inclined wall and being connected by a web which forms a base portion, and said plates extending a substantial distance rearwardly of the horizontal projection of the rearwardly inclined wall, with said rearwardly inclined wall and bottom wall extending a substantial distance laterally of both of said vertical plates, whereby the plates prevent rearward tipping of the rearwardly inclined wall and the walls prevent lateral tipping of the plates.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the rear, bottom and side walls are formed of a single sheet metal stamping and wherein the supporting plates are stamped from a single sheet metal stamping and have a central web connecting the plates together, with said web having an extension bent to the same inclination as the rear retaining wall and rigidly fixed to said wall.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the plates are spaced apart and are adapted to accommodate a spool of tape between them with said plates, each providing a bearing adapted to accommodate an axle for such a spool with the bearings being at the upper margins of the plates and spaced rearwardly from said rear wall to provide clearance for the spool of tape.

CARL V. HANSON, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 598,053 Lewis Jan. 25, 1898 1,091,026 Traugott Mar. 24, 1914 1,123,830 Zincke et al Jan. 5, 1915 1,192,957 Townsend Aug. 1, 1916 1,379,240 Bashwiner May 25, 1921 1,403,869 Reid Jan. 17, 1922 1,935,223 Davidson Nov. 14, 1933 2,178,722 De Mattia Nov. 7, 1939 2,221,213 Borden Nov. 12, 1940 2,453,028 Mason Nov. 2, 1948 

